Author's Notes: This is a repost of the first story that I ever wrote. Thanks to a certain winged cheerleader and beta extraordinaire I feel that it's ready to be resubmitted to my peers. Thanks also to Brionhet for graciously allowing me to use her story "Choose Your Battles" as an inspiration for parts of my own. As always, constructive feedback is welcomed. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

Chapter 1 - Meet the New Guy?

General Hammond stood at the foot of the ramp waiting for his flagship team. He seemed to be ignoring the sounds and flashing lights that surrounded him and the rest of the security personnel stationed in the gate room. He was silently counting off the team members appearing through the event horizon shimmering before him.

One, two, three . . . Ah, four! Good, they all appear to be in one piece this time!

The claxons in the gate room ceased blaring as the last member of SG1 walked down the ramp and the incoming wormhole shut down. General Hammond gave his second-in-command a slight smile and said, "Right on time, Colonel. Did you and SG1 find anything interesting on P3X-987?"

Colonel O'Neill gave his CO a gentle smirk, "Oh, not much - just lots of trees and the ruins of an ancient civilization. You know - the usual, sir."

Hammond nodded, "Okay, Colonel. Hit the locker room - we'll debrief in one hour."

ooOOoo

"P3X-987 appears tohold the remnants of a civilization with obvious Mayan influences. I'd recommend we send out another team to continue the survey of the ruins.The inscriptions thatI've translated so far seem to indicate a fairly advanced civilization, but oddly enough, no reason as to why the planet was abandoned." Daniel paused in his briefing to run an exasperated hand through his hair.

"What seems to be the problem, Dr. Jackson?" asked the general.

"Sir, we have a personnel issue."

"What do you mean?" Hammond asked, puzzled by the seeming non sequitur.

"General, we no longer have anyone on staff who really specializes in the North or South American cultures."

"You seem to be doing okay with this stuff, Daniel," Jack said.

Daniel shook his head, "That's the problem, Jack. I'm doing okay with this stuff, but I'm also a member of SG1. And, as you've pointed out to me on more than one occasion, as a member of a first contact team I don't always have the luxury of spending the time needed to adequately analyze the data I've gathered."

Everyone in the room watched as Daniel paced before them, becoming caught up in his dilemma. "There's evidence of Goa'uld presence on P3X-987, and I'd really like to know what happened to the people who lived there. We're also starting to run into more planets with connections to the ancient American civilizations. Robert used to cover most of those, but…" Daniel paused at the inadvertent mention of his dead friend, a shadow of grief flickering across his face, before continuing. "Now, I want to keep my place on SG1, but in order to do that I need to have someone on staff who's capable of handling the supervision of these sites if I'm not available."

General Hammond nodded thoughtfully. "Dr. Rothman's death has created a bit of a shortfall in your department, Dr. Jackson. Why don't you make a list of possible candidates and pass them on to Colonel O'Neill so that we can begin the screening process. We'll put any return to P3X-987 on the back burner until we have the suitable personnel in place."

The general rose to his feet. "Good job, people. SG1 is on stand-down for the next three days. Dismissed."

The other members of SG1 rose to their feet simultaneously as the general left the room. Jack clapped his hands and rubbed them together gleefully. "Okay Campers, let's go find something to keep us busy. Anyone up for a spot of fishing?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow immediately. "I am sorry, O'Neill, but I will be unable to join you. I have agreed to assist Gunnery Sergeant Williams with the hand-to-hand combat training for the new SGC recruits." The tall Jaffa bowed slightly to his teammates and exited the room rather faster than his normally sedate pace.

The colonel glanced at Daniel. "Fishing, Space Monkey?"

The archaeologist sighed. "One day, Jack, you're going to tell me where you came up with that ridiculous nickname. Sorry, not this time. I should . . . uh . . . really get started on that list. Maybe Sam would like to go?" He turned to Major Carter, his eyebrows raised, with a supremely innocent look on his face.

Sam glowered at her friend before her CO turned his gaze on her. "You'll have to count me out, too, sir. I haven't finished the science staff reviews and they're due on Monday. Take a rain check?"

Jack shrugged. "Yeah sure, you betcha." Tucking his hands in his pockets, he turned and exited the room. "See you on Monday, kids."

Sam and Daniel both sighed with relief as they trailed him from the room.

ooOOoo

O'Neill sauntered into Daniel's office on Monday morning to find the archaeologist standing in the middle of the room studying a sheaf of papers in his hand.

"Hey Daniel."

Startled, Daniel looked up from his papers. "Oh, hey Jack. I was actually just coming to look for you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I've got that list of candidates that General Hammond wanted." He handed Jack the papers he'd been perusing.

"Okay. I'll take this to Personnel after breakfast. Come on, Carter and Teal'c are waiting for us in the commissary. I think they have waffles this morning - your favorite." O'Neill clapped his friend on the shoulder and guided him out into the hallway.

ooOOoo

"Gentlemen, let's get started," General Hammond greeted O'Neill and Daniel as he joined them in the briefing room.

Daniel handed the men a small stack of folders. "We came up with three possible candidates for the open position and Personnel finished the background checks yesterday. I've worked with one of the candidates personally and Dr. Lee gave me the names of the other individuals."

Jack snorted. "Well, if they're anything like Lee, they won't fit in - especially if we're looking for someone to put on a field team."

Daniel shot him an irritated glance. "Bill is doing much better since he started with the SGC. You can't expect everyone to be field-trained before they get here, Jack!"

General Hammond barely kept himself from rolling his eyes at their bickering. "Colonel O'Neill has a valid point, Dr. Jackson. We're looking for someone to add to a field-team and even though we will provide some training for them, whoever we select needs to be capableof handling the situations our teams routinely face off-world."

Daniel nodded, frustrated. "I understand, General. In that case, I think that we'll have to automatically disqualify two of the candidates. They're more academics than anything else. Dr. Farrell, however, has the qualifications we need." He drew a file from the bottom of his stack and gestured for the other two men to do the same.

The other men opened their files simultaneously and began to read. Daniel already knew most of the details and sat back in his seat to watch the reactions of the other two men.

"Ariana Farrell, age thirty-three," Jack read aloud. "Unless she's another wunderkind like you, this Farrell's a little young to have the experience we're looking for, don't you think, Daniel? And what the heck kind of name is 'Ariana'?"

Daniel sighed. "Dr. Farrell is only a few years younger than I am, Jack, and I'm only a few years younger than some of the civilians we have on other teams; not to mention the fact that she's quite a bit older than some of the military members in the field teams. She's avoided the typical academic career routes and has solid experience in her areas of expertise. On top of that, her field skills should make her transition into the SGC a little easier – she's in good physical shape and knows how to handle herself."

Jack grunted, conceding the point. "And the name?" he persisted.

"Dr. Farrell's mother, Elena, is a Mexican national. I believe that Ariana was named for her maternal grandmother, but I'll need to double-check that," Daniel retorted facetiously.

Jack snorted. Before he could reply to Daniel's sarcasm, General Hammond smoothly regained control of the conversation. "If you would continue, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel answered the general without hesitation. "Dr. Farrell's father was an executive with British Petroleum and moved his family all over the world. Because of this, Dr. Farrell speaks several languages and seems to have a knack for picking up new ones wherever she goes. She also holds advanced degrees in anthropology and botany in addition to being a medical doctor."

Jack glanced at Daniel slyly before turning to the general. "Sounds like just another geek to me, sir."

Daniel rose to the bait. "Jack! As an ethnobotanist, Dr. Farrell can fill a niche that we've been missing on the social science staff."

The general frowned. "An ethnobotanist?"

Jack answered before Daniel had the opportunity. "She goes out into the jungle and tries to find new cures for diseases and stuff, right Daniel?"

Daniel stared intently at Jack before responding. "Yes and no. That's just one aspect of Dr. Farrell's work. Ethnobotanists gather data mainly from living peoples in hopes of gathering a view of their past existence as well as an understanding of present uses of plants for food, medicine, construction materials, and tools. Dr. Farrell worked with the Guarani people in the Amazon for four years and she did her graduate field work with the Maya in the Yucatan. That's where I met her, actually, while I was on a dig at Uxmal."

"So why do you think that Dr. Farrell would be a better candidate for the SGC than these others, Dr. Jackson?" the Hammond asked, indicating the unopened dossiers.

"For several reasons, General. First, she has training in the fields that we need. Second, one of our goals at the SGC is to bring back new medical knowledge from the peoples we encounter - a task she's uniquely qualified to handle. Third, if she can survive in the Amazon for long stretches of time with limited contact with the civilized world, she'll probably make it out in the field. And lastly, she's a widow; other than her parents, Dr. Farrell has no one to ask her difficult questions about what we do here." Daniel ticked the points off on his fingers.

"Widow? I didn't see that," Jack interjected, flipping through the file.

Daniel turned to the correct page in his own folder. "She married Gareth Spencer in 1988. He was a British geologist who worked with her father at BP. Spencer was kidnapped and eventually killed while on a short-term assignment to Angola in 1992."

"What is she doing now?" asked the general.

"She's been doing field research for a pharmaceutical company based out of California, but I'm pretty sure that I could convince her to work for us without any problems," Daniel replied.

The general looked at his 2IC. "Colonel, if you concur with Dr. Jackson's assessment, you have my permission to approach Dr. Farrell concerning a position at the SGC."

"Yes, sir. We'll take care of it." Jack promised.

General Hammond nodded and stood. "Very well, gentlemen. Dismissed."

ooOOoo

Ariana wondered for the thousandth time what she had gotten herself into. Jackson's call had come at an opportune time - she was ready to get out of San Francisco. After living in the Amazon for so long, she'd found the bustle of the big city just a little too much to handle – culture shock she supposed. Ariana had put out feelers concerning other fieldwork, but had really started the search too late for the coming season. That was why, when the archaeologist had called out of the blue saying that she would be the perfect addition to the "exciting project" he was working for, she'd jumped at the offer with little thought.

Her enthusiasm had lasted through the arduous task of packing for the move to Colorado Springs, signing the pile of nondisclosure forms her new employers had sent, and her conversations with her parents. Her father, smart enough to know what working for the military could entail, had only warned her to be careful and to keep in touch. Ariana knew that he would keep her mother from worrying too much.

Now she was here at last, sitting at the guard post of the NORAD facility, waiting for the Special Forces guard to check her driver's license against a list on his clipboard. The young soldier handed her driver's license back to her along with a clip-on visitor's badge. "Here you go, Dr. Farrell. Just drive down through the tunnel and park wherever you find a spot. I'll call ahead and let the guard post know you're coming. Have a good day, ma'am."

"Thank you, Airman," she nodded, noticing his small start of surprise that she'd gotten his rank correct. Ariana smiled to herself as she put the car into gear. Always the anthropologist, she had tried to prepare for her new environment as thoroughly as possible. Some of her research had just paid off - there were times when it wasn't such a bad thing to be a geek.

Ariana pulled off her sunglasses as she entered the lighted tunnel that led to the underground facility that was soon to become her new workplace. She glanced at her reflection in the rear-view mirror, grimacing at the picture she presented. Why had she decided that driving with the top down was a good idea? Her wavy hair was usually a little unruly, but the ride up the mountain had only made the situation worse. Good Lord, now she looked as frazzled as she felt! Oh well.

As she parked her car, Ariana realized that she'd managed to get a place fairly close to the guard post that marked the end of her journey. She noticed a blonde woman dressed in a navy garrison uniform chatting with another SF. Heaving another sigh and trying to smooth down her hair, Ariana grabbed her purse and bag.

She straightened up in time to see the blonde walking toward her from the guardhouse with a friendly smile on her face. Extending her hand toward Ariana, the woman said, "Are you Dr. Farrell? I'm Major Sam Carter. I've been waiting for you to arrive."

Ariana felt a small moment of panic. She glanced at her watch quickly before shaking Sam's hand. "I didn't think I was late – Dr. Jackson said that I should be here by 8:00."

Sam laughed. "Don't worry. You're not late. Daniel was going to meet you, but he got stuck in an early briefing and asked me to wait for you instead. Come on; let's go grab some breakfast. You've got a long day ahead of you."

ooOOoo

After showing Ariana the locker room and stowing her bag and purse, the two women headed for the commissary. Ariana felt conspicuous as the only person present in civilian clothing who wasn't wearing a lab coat. She'd thought carefully about what to wear that morning and had thought that her black slacks and man-tailored blouse wouldn't stand out too much. What had made her think that anything but a uniform would help her blend in on a military base?

Sam brought Ariana back to her surroundings by touching her arm and motioning toward a table at the back of the room. She nodded her acceptance and followed her guide to the table indicated. As she put down her tray, Sam broke the silence. "Was that a Benz 220 SE you were driving?"

Ariana shot a quick glance up at her table companion. "Yes! It's a '65 – a present to myself when I got back to the States. How did you know?"

Sam laughed. "I like to restore classic cars and motorcycles in my spare time. I have a silver '61 Volvo coupe in storage at the moment. So, do you like classic motorcycles, too?"

Ariana grinned sheepishly. "Not really - I usually prefer to get my thrills on horseback. I'd probably kill myself if I tried to ride a bike on these mountain roads."

A deep voice behind them chuckled. "That's what I keep telling Carter she's going to do, but she won't listen to me."

The two women looked up to see three men with trays standing behind them. Ariana stood as Sam addressed the handsome silver-haired man who had spoken. "Dr. Farrell, this is my commanding officer, Colonel Jack O'Neill."

The colonel nodded to her as he put his tray down at the head of the table. "Farrell, nice to meet you. The big guy over there is Teal'c and I think you know Dr. Jackson."

The big black man nodded to Ariana, who returned the gesture just as solemnly before turning to the blond man next to her. With a huge grin, she asked, "Gotten all the dirt out from under your fingernails yet, Rock Boy?"

"Still got those grass stains on your Birkenstocks, Nana?" Daniel returned the volley with a matching grin of his own. He reached over and gave her a quick hug, oblivious to the slightly shocked glances shared by his teammates.

Daniel's open and relaxed reaction to the woman next to him made Jack stop and look at her more closely. When he had seen her upon entering the commissary, his first thought had been 'country club'. Dr. Farrell's clothing was understated but obviously expensive. She had an undeniable Latin cast to her features, but was fairer than he had expected, with sable hair curling along her jaw. She was also taller than he'd thought, easily matching Carter in height. The only truly striking things about her, however, were her eyes. They were large, deep brown and full of laughter.

Jack brought his attention back to his tablemates when he noticed that the two friends had switched languages.

Daniel placed his hand on Ariana's arm and said in German, "Ich habe dich vermißt, Zucker."1

I missed you, Sugar? Huh? Jack thought.

Ariana smiled wistfully. "Ich habe dich auch vermißt, Äffchen."

Everyone turned to stare at the colonel when he started choking on the coffee he'd been sipping. "I missed you too, Monkey?" Splutter. "She calls you 'Monkey'?"

Daniel blushed. "I didn't know you spoke German, Jack."

"Es gibt vieles, was du nicht über mich weißt, Äffchen"2 Jack chortled. "Or should I say Raumaffe?"3

At this outburst, Ariana looked around the table, only to see Sam with a grin on her face and Teal'c with his eyebrow raised to its fullest height. She looked to Daniel, who mumbled, "It's a long story, I'll tell you later."

Daniel looked at his watch and stood up hastily. "Oh, look at the time! I'd better get you to the infirmary. You don't want to be late for your appointment with Dr. Fraiser."

Ariana stood to follow her friend. "It was nice to meet you all, Sam, Teal'c, Colonel."

"See you later, Ariana," Sam smiled.

Teal'c inclined his head. "Dr. Farrell."

Jack grinned evilly. "I think I'm going to like having you around, Farrell. See you soon."

1. You'd normally use a different word here (i.e., Shatze) but I've translated literally for the sake of the story
2. There are a lot of things that you don't know about me, Monkey. German
3. Space Monkey. German. Literally space ape. Not a real term – just Jack being snarky/